Determinants of corporate social responsibility reporting and external assurance: evidence from Italian-listed companies

The purpose of this research is to explore the factors associated with the decision of Italian listed companies to produce a corporate social responsibility (CSR) report and to adopt assurance services. Furthermore, we intend to analyse whether an association exists between the type of assurance provider and the nature of the assurance services. Then we want to verify if there is an association between the provider and some key qualitative characteristics of assurance statements. We find that industrial affiliation and company size affect both the production of CSR reports and the adoption of assurance services. Companies that have social and environmental certification are more likely to produce CSR reports. There is a positive association between the GRI application level and the assurance of CSR reports. Our analysis emphasises that being a Big 4 provider is positively associated with the standard used and with the conclusions expressed in a negative form, and it is negatively associated with the recommendations provided.